Quest For Low C

This cool piece for recorder provides a way to practice low C. In fact, low C is the only note recorders need to play! Many works for recorder avoid this note because it is a bit tricky to get all the fingers down, and it requires a gentle, steady amount of air.

"Quest For Low C" gives your players the opportunity to focus on practicing only this note. The tempo is slow (60 bpm). Recorders have quarters, halfs, and a couple of whole notes near the end.

The accompaniment's halftime drums and sparse piano combined with arpeggiated synths and strings builds a moody cinematic sound. The pan flute in the accompaniment pairs well with recorder and provides more melodic interest.

While working on producing this piece, we enjoyed discussing where the music brought our imaginations. We discovered we all had drastically different ideas in mind! Our thoughts varied from "lone mountain traveler" to "space explorer" to "knights on a quest" to "ninja warrior learning low C on the recorder." (Just kidding about that last one.)

More than Low C - Before learning the piece on recorder, consider using it as a listening exercise. Play the audio and ask your students to describe what it makes them think of. This can be especially fun if, while listening, ideas are written down before sharing them. That way opinions aren't swayed by anyone else. After listening, compile a list and discuss. How many different ideas are there? Are any identical? Or similar? Are they all different? Can a common thread be found between any or all of the ideas?

If you are seeking other recorder repertoire that uses low C, be sure to see "Before The Dawn" in this issue of Music K-8. We also highly recommend Recorder Karate 2 by Barb Philipak and Paul Jennings. This popular recorder method is chock full of helpful recorder hints, tips, teaching ideas, and instruction, and many of the pieces in this method include low C.

If you would like to follow along with the piano/recorder score for "Quest For Low C," it is available online, along with the recorder part for ease in duplication.